Jesus Comes Into Our Mess

Isn’t the Christmas story a wonderful story

It is a story that we hear every year.

But it is more than just any old story

It is something that happened in history that affects you today

and affects your future

When we open our eyes and ears

and be honest with ourselves

We realise that mess surrounds us

That we live in a mess

Our world is not neat and tidy

It has problems

and we have problems

Now some of us may try to hide the mess

At times we think by not seeing the mess, the mess does not exist

By not talking about the mess, the mess will evaporate

But that is like someone refusing to watch the news and then saying wars, poverty and evil do not exist

Or like a teenager who throws their dirty, roughed up clothes under a bed and tells mum they have cleaned up their room

With wars, poverty, people dieing, murders, environmental problems and the drought

It is not to hard to see that there is mess in the world

But the mess is not just in other peoples lives

The mess of this world extends into each of our lives

In your life there are some messes

Things that are not quite right

There are things not completed

Things we wished we hadn’t done

Relationships that are broken and need repairing

We have failed to love God and love others

What are some of the things or people that untidy your life

There are many other things that makes your life untidy and messy

Sometimes we pretend that everything is ok, when it is not

At times we go to extraordinary lengths to hide our faults,

the things and people that mess up our lives

That we don’t want others to know about

But no matter how hard we try God still knows every detail of our lives

And the mess we are in

And despite him knowing how messy our world is

How messy our lives are

as baby Jesus

he entered our messed up world

We spend a lot of time prettying up Christmas

Making it just right

But never forget that Jesus came to us in a messy way

It has been said that if Jesus was interviewed for the job of saviour he wouldn’t have got it

He wasn’t even born in the town his parents lived in

He was born to a couple who were not yet married

He was born in a cattle shed

Ever, smelt a place where cows, sheep and horses sleep?

Ever, walked through the animal enclosures at the show or the zoo?

They are not the most pleasant places to be

In fact they stink!!

And stink distracts us

And the affects of mess is that it can distract us from what is good

Some time ago I visited a garden full of beautiful flowers

But it was not a pleasant place to be

You see that garden was full of fertilizer

Cow manure, blood and bone and it stunk…

The smell distracted me from the beauty of the garden

And the mess in our lives has the same affect on us

The mess in our lives distract us from what is important

Think about it,

when you have a problem in your life

that problem can consume your time and energies

It keeps you away from what is good and helpful

But remember this

Despite the mess we live in

Jesus came to live among us

Would you rather visit a messy, smelly place or a nice clean place?

The fact is Jesus chose to visit our messy world

He chose to live in our messy world

To do His father’s will

Why???

It is simple…..because HE LOVES US…..HE LOVES YOU

He came to be the solution for our mess

In fact, he is the only guaranteed solution for our mess

All other solutions simply cover up our problems

All other solutions may make life pleasant for a little while,

like a fake smile or sweeping the dirt under a mat

But Jesus came as a human to deal once and for all with our mess

With the mess that affects us now and has the potential to prevent us from receiving the inheritance God wants to give us.

And he came for all people

Listen to Titus 2, verse 11, this time reading from the New Living Translation

For the grace of God has been revealed bringing salvation to all people

And

From verse 15

He(that is Jesus) gave his life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us his very own people, totally committed to doing good deeds.

Jesus wants to help everyone

Help each one of us have our relationships restored with His father